General Chat

Joy :-) :-)

Had forgotten - thanks very much for reminder.

So much happened between Good Friday and Ascension Day, didn't it. So much proof of miraculous events. So many eye witnesses.

And now a further 10 days and Jesus sends the Comforter in his stead to set our hearts on fire. Pentecost, White Sunday, Whitsunday and a lovely Bank Holiday :-) :-)

It has amazed me to think of these disciples, mainly working men and women close to breadline, who obeyed the command of Jesus to wait in Jerusalem for 7 weeks from Feast of Passover (Peswch) till Feast of Pentecost. What on earth did they do for money? Can you imagine us being on holiday far away and not being able to get back to our work or our loved ones for over 7 weeks :-0 What immense faith they had. And how richly rewarded :-D

Cynthia. I hope I am right about paedo baptism. But am no expert and need to find a couple of books to check my thoughts.

What I said was more or less word for word how John Wesley spoke about infant baptism in one of his 44 published sermons. He was pro-baptism and quoted the statement of faith of both his own church (C of E) and the Baptist Union (then under John Gill's leadership). He just suggested that both churches found it very easy to slip away from their statements of faith and should always return to them - that adult water baptism was an outward sign of an inward baptism of the heart, an inner work of Grace. And Wesley did admit that he was puzzled by how infant or paedo baptism worked but was convinced it was something that God honoured greatly.

Ascension Day, when Jesus ascended to Heaven.


http://archive.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_7894_ENG_HTM.htm

Grant we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into heaven, so we may also with heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.



http://everydaychristianprayers.blogspot.co.uk/2007/05/morning-prayer-william-barclay.html

MORNING PRAYER - William Barclay

Oh God our Father,
who commanded us to live in fellowship with one another,
keep us from everything which would make us difficult to live with today.
Help us never thoughtlessly or deliberately to speak in such a way that we would hurt another’s feelings, or wound another’s heart.
Keep us from all impatience, from all irritability,
and from a temper which is too quick.
Keep us from eyes which are focused to find fault and from a tongue which is tuned to criticize.
Keep us from being touchy,
and quick to take offence, and slow to forget it.
Help us not to be stubborn and obstinate,
and keep us from selfishness which can see nothing but its own point of view,
and which wants nothing but its own way.
Grant to us all through this day something of the grace and beauty which shone upon our Blessed Lord Jesus.
Hear this our prayer, for Your love’s sake,
Amen

.. :-)

Certainly Susan.

It's something I have been thinking about, so I am grateful that you have mentioned it.


Equip me today, O God, with

The humility, which will keep me from pride and from conceit;

The graciousness and the gentleness which will make me both easy to deal with and a joy to meet.

The diligence, the perseverance, and the reliability,

which will make me a good workman;

The kindness which will give me a quick eye to see that I can do for others,

and a ready hand to do it;

The constant awareness of Your presence,

which will make me do everything as to You.

So grant that today men may see in me a glimpse of the life

of my Blessed Lord Jesus.

This I ask for Your love’s sake.

Amen.


- William Barclay.

Lovely prayer Cynthia...any more where that came from? a daily prayer would be nice to log on to :-)

I think the man was just being honest John.

It's easy to become quite cynical when you're involved in the C. of E. As it is the 'state' church, each parish priest has a duty of care to all those who live within his parish. Those people are entitled to use the church for 'occasional' services - baptisms etc., whether they are believers or not.

As for the man's wife well, I'm not sure about that - only a couple of the parents out of the eight families were actually married.


Looks like we have a different understand of about baptism though - I have never heard your explanation before, although I know there are some denominations who are against infant baptism and prefer to baptise adults.

In the C. of E. it is stated.......

In baptism, you as parents are: thanking God for his gift of life, making a decision to start your child on the journey of faith and asking for the Church's support.

For your child, baptism marks the start of a journey of faith, which involves turning away from all that is evil, turning towards Christ and becoming a member of the local and worldwide Christian family.

+++++++++++

As a godparent, you have a special role. It's about helping a child to come to know God, encouraging them in their spiritual life and supporting them in their membership of the local church.

You will be expected to be attend the child's baptism, where you will make promises to help to bring them up in the Christian faith.

It's a role that will develop over time, as your godchild grows up and develops their own faith.


If any parents feel that they cannot undertake the promises asked of them, they are offered a Services of Blessing for the child instead.

I was amazed to see a story of two African missionaries in South Wales 20 years ago. And they were in S Wales for missionary work amongst the "natives". My vague recollection was that they were employed by the Church in Wales (C of E in Wales).

Expect the man at baptism class was doing his best to lighten the mood. Wonder what reaction of other parents was to his comments. Hope his wife said something to him:-( :-(

My understanding of baptism is that the faith of one or both parents covers the infant against sin until the child is able to make his or her own decisions. So we do need to include these parents in our prayers. I do think it is a wonderful part of God's common grace that these folk are led to your church, Cynthia, given a nice welcome and an explanation of what baptism is all about. And prayed for as they and the Godparents attempt to bring the child up in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. :-) :-)

Thank you Emma - theirs was such a tragic story :-(


We had baptism prep tonight and I'm worn out!


There were eight baptism families along with several fractious children so, trying to put over the meaning of baptism, was quite hard.


We use a PowerPoint as a visual aid and talk them through not only the meaning of baptism, but the service itself. Many families are not used to church services so we try to makes things as easy as possible for them - without 'dumbing down' the faith.


One of the things we try to point out is that baptism is the beginning of the Christian journey - not just something to get over and done with.


I asked if anyone was prepared to say WHY they wanted their child baptised. There was a slight embarrassed pause and then one chap put his hand up and uttered those immortal words........"To have a party". sigh......


A bit later, the same chap asked for something to be done at the service and the Vicar explained that it wasn't possible and explained the reason why. The response from the man was "You're taking the ****".


Sometimes I think we could do with missionaries being sent to THIS country.... :-(

Cynthia and John,

Not much more info regarding Russian Orthodox faith in the book
as it is mainly about Nichols11's reign and how unprepared he was.
mentions Gregory Rasputin and his hold over Alexandra's emotions
regarding her son's illness. The lead up of course to their murder and
what I have googled and read about the church very interesting, I
believe they were made Saints along with their servants apart from two
one being a Catholic and the other a Lutheran.
Some of their prayers are really beautiful and for various times of the day.

Emma

:-D Linda :-D

That's lovely and I'm sure C will feel very important and all grown up at his Holy Communion service. Hope it all goes well Linda, and do let us know all about it :-)



The other day, I mentioned the late William Barclay, a British Theologian and Bible Scholar - much loved by many clergy. I find his style of prayers and thoughts very easy to follow and thought I would share the following with you:



A morning prayer:


Oh God our Father,
who commanded us to live in fellowship with one another,
keep us from everything which would make us difficult to live with today.

Help us never thoughtlessly or deliberately to speak in such a way that we would hurt another’s feelings, or wound another’s heart.

Keep us from all impatience, from all irritability,
and from a temper which is too quick.

Keep us from eyes which are focused to find fault and from a tongue which is tuned to criticize.

Keep us from being touchy,
and quick to take offence, and slow to forget it.

Help us not to be stubborn and obstinate,
and keep us from selfishness which can see nothing but its own point of view,
and which wants nothing but its own way.

Grant to us all through this day something of the grace and beauty which shone upon our Blessed Lord Jesus.

Hear this our prayer, for Your love’s sake,
Amen.


I hope everyone has a good week...... <3

Cynthia...brings back memories of my 2 youngest grandchildren A & C's baptisms...both baptised on the same day.

Youngest A 18 month old slept through it all however the oldest C at 4 when his dad went to hold him up over the font and C not knowing what was happening cried out "I have already had a bath today"

The Church was in uproar :-D

C has his first Holy Communion in two weeks...I am holding my breathe :-D

Linda

Thank you Dermot.

Lovely words, Dermot. Thankyou for that :-) :-)

God’s Wisdom; Man’s Folly.

We will never fully understand
No matter how much we try,
God’s ways are outside our realm,
Along with the reasons ‘why’.

We analyse and intellectualise
What we do not understand,
We need God’s wisdom in our hearts,
Not the intellect of man.

I know we have so many questions,
But the answers we seldom find
For we can never work God out
Nor understand His mind.

There’s no searching God’s understanding
So infinite are His ways
New are His mercies and steadfast love
At the dawn of each new day.

So wonderful are all His counsels,
His wisdom’s too great for me,
He understands the whole universe
And the hurt inside, He sees.

I wonder how almighty God,
All knowing and divine,
How He could care about my world
And give undivided time.

But this is the complexity
Of the holy, great ‘I Am’,
We often do not fully grasp
And we fail to understand.

Just how much God really loves us,
Beyond what we can comprehend
For God is more than omnipotent,
He is our dearest friend.

(By M.S.Lowndes.)

Elizabeth of the Seasons reminds us on another thread it is Rogation Sunday today. Was very grateful for all her info.

Emma. I found the info re these Eastern Orthodox churches to be fascinating. Will look forward to any pearls you find in rest of book :-)

Been out twice today - once to preach and once to home chapel to listen. This morning I had a congregation of about 90 and the singing was out of this world. Many of the congregation are of much higher social status than me - a Crown Court judge, two headmasters, several "professional" people. But I always feel welcome there, and I think we always have a good time. Had a minutes silence in prayers, and it really seems to have an impact.

Tonight they are having a Celtic style service. I have only ever led two of those, and I found them very challenging and very peaceful.

This afternoon we have had our top man (Superintendent Minister) and there were 20-25, which is quite a good congregation these days at my chapel. The main thrust of his message was to get out to people rather than expecting them to come to you. He mentioned the Apostle Peter going to the house in Capernaum of the Roman centurion - at a time when Jews did not mix with "unclean" Gentiles.

And he also mentioned the Apostle Paul visiting Lydia, the purple seller.

I thought it was powerful stuff for thought in these days. And all in all an excellent first day of my week.

I hope you have been blessed also :-) :-)

Another Sunday and another baptism....... a little boy of about 18 months, all dressed up in a tiny grey suit. My word though, he was not a happy bunny at all and certainly let everyone know about it. I think he was probably very tired....... :-D


It was one of those occasions where the guests were obviously not very used to church going and didn't know whether to sit or stand. Fortunately, the retired clergyman who was helping out, gave lots of hints to help them along. It was nice to see some of them go to the altar for a blessing. :-)


It was surprising how many pre-schoolers were in today - considering it's a Bank Holiday weekend when lots of families like to go away for the day. They were very good and seemed happy enough.


Hope everyone else has had a good day.............. :-)

I was surprised to see this thread pop up again.....thought Sunday had come round early..... :-D


Budgie....... :-D Thank you for the smile - very much appreciated.


Dermot........... Trollope has a point which still exists today. Mind you, I wonder what he would have made of the Pentecostal style of worship? Do you remember the TV series from yonks ago? Donald Peasance played the lead role and it was the first time I remember seeing Alan Rickman.....he played Sloop? I've been a fan of his ever since.......he was so.......so.....obsequious!!! :-D


Emma.....of course you can add that on here. I've always had a certain fascination for the Orthodox church but my knowledge is sadly lacking - probably because I don't stop and find out enough. Sounds like a good read - keep us posted please. :-)


I was talking to my vicar the other day - poor chap is still reeling after the car business last week. He was warning me about forthcoming baptisms.....it seems as though we are fully booked until September and that includes baptisms at some point during every Sunday in May....... :-S :-S :-S :-S

My word, they breed well round here............... ;-)

Morning all,

The book I am reading at the moment is very interesting in the
fact that I have learnt some things i knew little of.

1....the Orthodox church is the oldest of all Christian churches,
I believe, sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

2....Russian Orthodox church biggest celebration is Pentecost
even bigger than the birth of Jesus.

The book is of Nicholas and Alexandra who i did not know
was of the Lutheran faith and had to enter into the Russian
Orthodox church before she married Nicholas. She was not happy
with this at the start but then embraced her new church.

Hope you don't mind me adding this to your thread but I found it
very interesting.

Emma

'There is, perhaps, no greater hardship at present inflicted on mankind in civilised and free countries than the necessity of listening to sermons.

No one but a preaching clergyman has, in these realms, the power of compelling audiences to sit silent, and be tormented. No one but a preaching clergyman can revel in platitudes, truisms, and untruisms, and yet receive, as his undisputed privilege, the same respectful demeanour as though words of impassioned eloquence, or persuasive logic, fell from his lips'.

(From Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope).

A Saturday smile for Cynthia.

The children of Israel wandered around the desert for 40 years. Even in biblical times, men wouldn't ask for directions.

Shane,